Sources have confirmed the “Star Trek Into Darkness” filmmaker will helm the next “Star Wars” movie, the highly anticipated installment in the landmark franchise scheduled to reach theaters in 2015.

“Star Wars: Episode VII” will be written by Michael Arndt, the Oscar-winning screenwriter of “Little Miss Sunshine” and “Toy Story 3.”

Simon Kinberg and Lawrence Kasdan have been tapped to write “Star Wars” projects as well, but it’s unclear whether their scripts will be for future episodes or for films outside the official trilogy.

The upcoming trilogy of new films was announced Oct. 30 when the Walt Disney Co. went public with its plans to acquire Lucasfilm for $4.05 billion.

The upcoming trilogy of new films was announced Oct. 30 when the Walt Disney Co. went public with its plans to acquire Lucasfilm for $4.05 billion. Abrams’ name — because of a successful sci-fi track record that included the ABC series “Lost” and the “Star Trek” movie reboot — was immediately floated, but the director initially said he would not be a part of the next “Star Wars” film.

He told Empire Magazine late last year that “I declined any involvement very early on. I’d rather be in the audience not knowing what was coming, rather than being involved in the minutiae of making them.”

Since 2002 there have been arguably 50 movies about superheroes. Arguably, because genre is tricky; it's often variations on a theme, and some variations are less obvious than others. ("Star Wars," for instance, a bit of a space western, is no one's picture of the western genre.) Oh, also:...